Dead Man's Chest
by SleepiePanda
Summary: It's been a year since Maria met Jack. Now legally married to him and pregnant with his child, the couple must go on another adventure to stay alive, but Maria is going to unravel a lot of secrets. Maria believes she knows everything there is to know about Jack, but there are things he didn't tell her and those things are going to put her and their child in danger.


Maria stands behind the wheel as Gibbs walks the deck with a bottle of rum in his hands. Maria had on hand on the wheel, while the other was on her stomach. "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum. Drink and the devil had done for the rest. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum." Gibbs laughs before drinking from the bottle. Maria rolls her eyes as suddenly the bells toll.

Maria and Gibbs look at each other before looking up towards the skies. A flock of birds flies by and the two of pirates on deck looks at the direction they are going. "I don't feel good about this, Gibbs." Maria tells him as she moves to beside him.

"Jack will be okay, Maria." She grips the old man's hand and lets out a shaky breath.

"He has to be." Maria places a hand on her belly. "For our son." Gibbs looks over at Maria with a small smile.

"Decided it had to be a boy?"

"Jack and I are hoping."

"Would be nice to have a little girl running around here."

"I don't know if Jack wants a girl."

"What do you want?" Maria looks at Gibbs with a frown on her lips before hearing the gunshot. Maria jumps ever the slightest and heads over to look out at the sea. "Told you Jack would be okay." She nods as she watches him slowly makes his way to the ship. Gibbs goes and holds out his hand, but instead of Jack putting his hand in it he puts another man's foot. "Not quite according to plan." Gibbs says as Maria drapes his jacket over his shoulders.

"Complications arose, ensued, were overcome."

"As long as you're okay." Maria smiles as she leans up and kisses him. Jack places a hand on her stomach and kisses her back before pulling away and starting for the front of the ship.

"You got what you went in for, then?" Gibbs asks as he and Maria follow Jack.

"Mm-hm." He says as he waves a piece of paper around. Maria wraps an arm around his arm as everyone surrounds them.

"Captain, I think the crew, meaning me as well, were expecting something a bit more... shiny, with the Isla de Muerta going pear-shaped reclaimed by the sea with the treasure."

"And the Royal Navy chasing us around the Atlantic." Maria narrows her eyes on the dark-skinned pirate. She never liked the idea of Jack hiring that man and his group. They always looked at her in a way that made her skin crawl.

"And the hurricane." Marty says, causing Maria to sigh. She agreed with Marty. They had a lot of hard falls after everything.

"Aye." The pirates chorus.

"Jack, all in all, it has been a long while since we've done a speck of honest pirating." Maria interviens. Jack looks over Maria before wrapping his arm around her, pulling her close to him, and resting a hand on her stomach. Maria has long since learned that Jack does this to keep others from her. He was a lot more possessive than she had first thought, but she loves it all the more. She rests her head on his chest.

"Shiny?" Jack asks Gibbs.

"Aye, shiny."

"Is that how you're all feeling then? That perhaps dear old Jack is not serving your best interests as captain?"

"Walk the plank." The bird croaks causing Maria to glare at the pirate.

"What did the bird say?" Jack asks as he pulls out his gun and aims it at the bird.

"Do not blame the bird, Jack." Maria says with a roll of her eyes.

"Show us what is on that piece of cloth there." Maria glances at Jack with a curious look. He hasn't even told her what he's been up to and he always keeps her in the loop.

"Jack, hun, what is it exactly?" Maria asks. The group screams as the pirate monkey shows it face, the body of it still a skeleton. Jack screams and tries to shoot it, but it doesn't work. The monkey steals the paper, causing Jack to take Maria's gun and fire it at the monkey.

"You know that don't do no good." Gibbs tells Jack.

"It does me." Jack says in return.

"It's a key." Marty says as he looks at the dropped paper.

"No. Much more better." Maria raises an eyebrow as she follows Jack to Marty. "It is a drawing of a key." Maria sighs and rests her head against his arm. Jack sometimes is a bit too out there, even for her. "Gentlemen, and my lady, what do keys do?"

"Keys... unlock things?" The dark-skinned man says.

"And whatever this key unlocks, inside there's something valuable." Gibbs cuts in. "So we're setting out to find whatever this key unlocks."

"Jack?" Maria questions, lifting her head to look at him.

"No." Maria stares at him in confusion. "If we don't have the key, we can't open whatever we don't have that it unlocks. So what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don't have, without first having found the key what unlocks it?" Sometimes it is scary that Maria understands Jack so well.

"So we're going after this key." Gibbs says.

"You're not making any sense at all." Maria bites back a laugh. "Any more questions?"

"So... do we have a heading?"

"Ah... a heading." He pulls out his compass and looks down at it.

"Set sail in a... General..." Maria looks down at it to find it spinning crazily. Jack waves his finger around. "That-way direction." Maria looks at Jack with worry.

"Captain?" Gibbs questions.

"Come on, snap to and make sail. You know how this works. Go on. Oi, oi, oi!" Jack disperses the group and heads for his room as Marty, Gibbs, and Maria look out at sea.

"Have you noticed lately the captain seems to be acting a bit strange... er?"

"I'm worried about him." Maria tells them. "I thought it may be due to the baby being so far along, he wanted to be able to be back on land before it arrives, but Jack wouldn't be this... strange."

"Setting sail without knowing his own heading. Something's got Jack vexed, and mark my words, what bodes ill for Jack Sparrow bodes ill for us all." Maria looks at them with great worry. For one of the few times in Maria's life, she is actually scared. Scared for her, for her baby, and for Jack.


End file.
